Couple book 51 back-to-back cruises as it's cheaper than living in retirement home

A couple more than 450 days into their ongoing cruise holiday say they’re still having a ‘lot of fun’.

Marty and Jess Ansen believe that living on a cruise ship is cheaper than checking into a retirement home. Last June, they decided to put their theory to the test and headed off on the first of their 51 back-to-back holidays.

Speaking to A Current Affair, Marty said: "We're on board longer than anybody else. The wheels change over but we stay on board.”

Agreeing with her partner, Jess then said that as a couple, they regularly ‘welcome new captains on board the ship’ as well as their most recent hotel manager, Ren van Rooyen.

Today

Speaking to the outlet, Van Rooyen said: “We always make a joke that I go away and I come back and it's like coming to see my family - my mum and dad again - they're like my second mum and dad on board.”

As well as the hotel manager, other members of the ship crew have reportedly begun to treat the Ansens as family - with Jess being surprised on board for her birthday last month.

It’s reported that the couple had been fond of cruising for four decades. However, after the COVID-19 pandemic shut down ship operations in 2020, Marty and Jess decided they were not wasting another moment on land.

“Eventually I said to my agent, 'Look, whatever comes, book it' and that's how it got to be such a long cruise," said Marty.

A Current Affair

The pair may be on day 458 of their sea-based odyssey, but they say they never get bored of starting each morning with an hour of table tennis.

“We do it together and we have a lot of fun,” said Jess, before adding that the exercise was great for working up an appetite.

Earlier this week, the couple were docked in Sydney as the Coral Princess restocked and underwent preparation for its next round trip to Hawaii.

After a further eight months on board, Marty and Jess will spend a few months on land before jumping on the Crown Princess for a year-long vacation.

"We don't know how to wash up anymore, we don't know how to make a bed, because we haven't done it for so long. So now we have to stay on board just to stay alive,” joked Marty.

Last year, the Australians spoke to Today and said that living on a cruise ship was ‘just wonderful’.

"You have all your meals prepared, you don't have to cook, you go to a show every evening and go dancing after the show, then you go for supper and head back to your cabin,” said Jess.